A Cornucopia Of Garden Items Lures Collectors

June 8, 1985|By Anita Gold, Chicago Tribune

One does not need a green thumb to cultivate a taste for garden-related antiques and collectibles. Such items consist of everything from old garden tools to antique flower pots and garden ornaments to various functional or decorative pieces that either were used in a garden or were shaped like -- or embellished with -- flowers, fruits, vegetables, trees or plants.

There are thousands of old garden-related or decorated items and objects made from almost every material imaginable -- cloth (such as stitched samplers, patterned quilts, or embroidered or beaded clothing and accessories); iron (such as gates, fences, tools, urns); glass (such as goblets, plates and other tableware, and pieces with pressed, etched, or painted motifs); stoneware, pottery and porcelain (such as crocks, jugs, plates, pitchers decorated with print or painted designs); wood (such as various carvings, sculptures and artwork); and other such pieces, all of which in some way relate to the cultivating of gardens or to whatever it is that is grown in them or in earth-filled containers such as pots, planters or flower boxes.

Some collectors may specialize in collecting items relating to a particular flower they love, while others might take a fancy to colorful old seed boxes, packs and labels portraying flowers, fruits and vegetables. Still others adore jewelry, charms and buttons decorated with -- or shaped like -- leaves, flowers or fruits.

If buttons are of interest, you can join the National Button Society, 2733 Juno Pl., Akron, Ohio 44313 by writing and enclosing $10 for an annual membership. Buttons decorated with various types of flowers can be found in brass, glass, celluloid, china, cloisonne, silver, needlepoint, and many other materials.

Of special interest are the many garden-related folk art pieces which attract collectors of country-type furnishings and accessories. Such items not only add a colorful touch to country-furnished rooms, but sustain a cheery garden atmosphere throughout the year.

Especially desirable are folk-art fruits and vegetables made from various materials such as wood, stone, pottery or velvet.

A collection of apple-shaped boxes and containers, for instance, would be the apple of any country collector's eye as would collections of any type of fruits or vegetables ranging from grapes to oranges to lemons.

If citrus fruits turn you on, you may want to join the Citrus Label Society by writing it at 16633 Ventura Blvd., No. 1011, Encino, Calif. 91436, enclosing $12 for an annual membership, which includes a monthly Citrus Peel publication. (Send an addressed, stamped business-size envelope for a free sample copy.)) Such colorful labels once decorated fruit crates, but now are considered artworks. Other collectible labels are original examples from fruit and vegetable cans, as well as Shaker examples picturing colorful fruits or vegetables packed or canned in Shaker communities and marked with Shaker packers' names and locations.

If flowers bring you joy, you'll love the old-fashioned ''Smell of Spring'' 3.5-ounce potpourri bag available for $7.95 from Wickerworks Country Bouquet, 129 S. Washington, Naperville, Ill. 60540. Also available from the same firm is ''Smell of Spring'' oil for $7.50 to revive the potpourri and keep its fragrance, and ''Smell of Spring'' room spray for $6.95. Add $1.50 postage for each.

This particular fragrance works like a love charm and will make your house smell like a springtime garden.

And for those who want to develop a green thumb like those of the oldtimers, a great deal of old-fashioned information and advice can be found in Homestead Hints -- For the Home, Garden and Household -- A Compendium of Useful Information from the Past, edited by Donald J. Berg. It's available for $5.50, plus $1.50, postage from Antiquity Reprints, Dept. H., Box 370, Rockville Centre, N.Y. 11571.